Apple Pay Cash support arrives in iOS 11.2 beta as public testers receive second build

AppleInsider

Just a day after developers were supplied with a second pre-release beta of iOS 11.2, Apple issued a new build for public testers as well, but with one small surprise: Apple Pay Cash is now available to try ahead of its public launch.

Apple appears to have remotely enabled Apple Pay Cash for iOS 11.2 testers, meaning developers running the build from Monday should also have access to the feature soon.

Available to beta participants based within the United States only, the payment system allows users to send cash to other users via a dedicated Apple Pay app within Messages in iOS 11. Funds are transferred to a prepaid "Apple Pay Cash" card, powered by partner Green Dot, which can then be used as a payment source for further Apple Pay transactions.

The person-to-person payments are funded using existing credit and debit cards already added to Apple Pay, with transactions involving credit cards incurring a small fee while debit cards will not. Funds added to a user's Apple Pay Cash card can only be used for Apple Pay purchases in stores, online, and in apps, but cannot be transferred into a user's bank account.

Apple originally introduced Apple Pay Cash as a feature of iOS 11 that would be added after the initial launch, in a similar way to how Apple Pay was introduced to users. Considering its appearance in the public beta of iOS 11.2, it is highly likely to launch when the iOS update ships in the near future.

Other changes in iOS 11.2 include a Now Playing widget for Apple TV media in Control Center. It also adds SiriKit commands for HomePod, and rectifies a minor Calculator bug.

iOS 11.2 beta 2 is identified as build 15C5097d.

Apple cautions against installing beta releases of its operating systems on mission-critical hardware, and recommends dedicated gear for testing.

cali

“Funds added to a user's Apple Pay Cash card can only be used for Apple Pay purchases in stores, online, and in apps, but cannot be transferred into a user's bank account.“

Damn i was hoping this would replace my Square Cash App me and my friend use it to pay each other back. Apple Pay adoption has been sluggish in certain areas like utilities so I wouldn’t wanna be paid this way. 

Apple making these transfers Pay exclusive makes me wonder though....
Do you think we’ll be seeing Pay gift cards in stores soon?

Soli

cali said:

Do you think we’ll be seeing Pay gift cards in stores soon?

That's an interesting question. If Apple gets a cut and it can be used at millions of locations from 10s of thousands of companies then it seems like an easy way for Apple to both capitalize on card services where they currently get nothing and increase ecosystem lock-in.

mike1

cali said:

“Funds added to a user's Apple Pay Cash card can only be used for Apple Pay purchases in stores, online, and in apps, but cannot be transferred into a user's bank account.“

Damn i was hoping this would replace my Square Cash App me and my friend use it to pay each other back. Apple Pay adoption has been sluggish in certain areas like utilities so I wouldn’t wanna be paid this way. 

Apple making these transfers Pay exclusive makes me wonder though....
Do you think we’ll be seeing Pay gift cards in stores soon?

Me too. This defeats the purpose of a person to person payment method. Would love to see something work as simply as Chase's Quick Pay with those who aren't Chase customers.

Stwert

From the Apple support document:

When someone sends you money, it's automatically and securely kept on your Apple Pay Cash card. You’ll see your new Apple Pay Cash card in Wallet, and you can use the money to send to someone, make purchases using Apple Pay in stores, within apps, and on the web, or transfer it from Apple Pay Cash to your bank account.

ihatescreennames

I could be mistaken but I thought I read after the Apple Pay Cash announcement that funds could be transferred into a bank account. Is this a change? Or maybe that was just speculation. 

That does sort of limit its usefulness. We have somebody who does periodic work for us and only wants cash. She was looking forward to Apple Pay Cash but has yet to actually even use Apple Pay. Without being able to transfer that money to a bank account I imagine she won’t be interested. 

doc_powell

I just activated Apple Pay Cash; there’s an option for you to transfer to your bank. 

BuffyzDead

Yes.
All set up to transfer incoming funds to my bank.

And it said nothing about any fees, so …...

anome

cali said:

“Funds added to a user's Apple Pay Cash card can only be used for Apple Pay purchases in stores, online, and in apps, but cannot be transferred into a user's bank account.“

Damn i was hoping this would replace my Square Cash App me and my friend use it to pay each other back. Apple Pay adoption has been sluggish in certain areas like utilities so I wouldn’t wanna be paid this way. 

Apple making these transfers Pay exclusive makes me wonder though....
Do you think we’ll be seeing Pay gift cards in stores soon?

If we do, will they be able to sell them at a discount, like they sometimes do with iTunes credit? Because, if so, then they won't let you add that to your bank account. Or, more accurately, if they do sell Apple Pay gift cards, I'm guessing something will stop them selling at a discount.

I'll be interested to see when this is expanded outside the US. Especially here, where the Big 3 banks are still dragging their feet.

douglas bailey

anome said:

I'll be interested to see when this is expanded outside the US. Especially here, where the Big 3 banks are still dragging their feet.

I presume you’re in Australia. I can’t wait for ApplePay Cash here either. Some customers of the big 3 have been unwilling to get an account with ANZ/ING/HSBC, etc... but I think many of them will get an ApplePay Cash card and once they do, an see how convenient ApplePay is, I think they’ll finally switch banks and tech those big 3 a lesson about not giving customers what they want.

patchythepirate

doc_powell said:

I just activated Apple Pay Cash; there’s an option for you to transfer to your bank. 

Thanks for that. The big question for me is.. can you transfer money from your bank account to (the private and secure) Apple Pay Cash?

Stwert

patchythepirate said:

doc_powell said:

I just activated Apple Pay Cash; there’s an option for you to transfer to your bank. 

Thanks for that. The big question for me is.. can you transfer money from your bank account to (the private and secure) Apple Pay Cast?

Yes, if you use a debit card supplied by your bank, you can use it to top up your Apple Pay Cash “card”.

Stwert

cali said:

“Funds added to a user's Apple Pay Cash card can only be used for Apple Pay purchases in stores, online, and in apps, but cannot be transferred into a user's bank account.“

Damn i was hoping this would replace my Square Cash App me and my friend use it to pay each other back. Apple Pay adoption has been sluggish in certain areas like utilities so I wouldn’t wanna be paid this way. 

Apple making these transfers Pay exclusive makes me wonder though....
Do you think we’ll be seeing Pay gift cards in stores soon?

That’s a mis-quote, funds are available to transfer to your bank account. There’s just a short delay. 

lolliver

douglas bailey said:

anome said:

I'll be interested to see when this is expanded outside the US. Especially here, where the Big 3 banks are still dragging their feet.

I presume you’re in Australia. I can’t wait for ApplePay Cash here either. Some customers of the big 3 have been unwilling to get an account with ANZ/ING/HSBC, etc... but I think many of them will get an ApplePay Cash card and once they do, an see how convenient ApplePay is, I think they’ll finally switch banks and tech those big 3 a lesson about not giving customers what they want.

I still find people who are ANZ customers who haven't realised how easy it is to set up and use ApplePay. Hopefully ApplePay Cash will arrive soon and also with Woolworths starting to promote ApplePay at the moment it might start to see more adoption.

patchythepirate

Stwert said:

patchythepirate said:

doc_powell said:

I just activated Apple Pay Cash; there’s an option for you to transfer to your bank. 

Thanks for that. The big question for me is.. can you transfer money from your bank account to (the private and secure) Apple Pay Cast?

Yes, if you use a debit card supplied by your bank, you can use it to top up your Apple Pay Cash “card”.

Thank you! That's great to hear.

securtis

Pretty much DOA as it won’t work with transfers to non Apple phones. Why would you buy stuff with it when you can use a rewards card? 

Soli

securtis said:

Pretty much DOA as it won’t work with transfers to non Apple phones. 

Which is why FaceTime and iMessages were also DOA services that no one uses¡

Stwert

securtis said:

Pretty much DOA as it won’t work with transfers to non Apple phones. Why would you buy stuff with it when you can use a rewards card? 

I think there’s probably enough millions of people using iOS devices to prevent it being completely doa. 

Its not just about buying things. Sending person to person payments without incurring the big fee PayPal charges me for receiving money is enough to ensure I’ll be using it and I’ll make sure any iOS device owning people who want to send me money do so too. 

kkqd1337

I think it's time Apple made iMessage cross platform with Android. Maybe even with a few iPhone exclusive features if they must. It just doesn't make sense for them not to be taking on Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger etc

Soli

kkqd1337 said:

I think it's time Apple made iMessage cross platform with Android. Maybe even with a few iPhone exclusive features if they must. It just doesn't make sense for them not to be taking on Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger etc

Is that even possible with the security setup they have for their messaging protocol?

anome

douglas bailey said:

anome said:

I'll be interested to see when this is expanded outside the US. Especially here, where the Big 3 banks are still dragging their feet.

I presume you’re in Australia. I can’t wait for ApplePay Cash here either. Some customers of the big 3 have been unwilling to get an account with ANZ/ING/HSBC, etc... but I think many of them will get an ApplePay Cash card and once they do, an see how convenient ApplePay is, I think they’ll finally switch banks and tech those big 3 a lesson about not giving customers what they want.

I haven't been able to switch banks, either, so I only have my American Express card on Apple Pay, which works fine, except in places that don't take it. (And there are some machines that only accept contactless payments from Visa or MasterCard, which makes no sense, especially since Apple Pay is using the Visa tokenisation system.)

One side is going to have to give in at some point. I think it will be the banks, rather than Apple. Especially as more financial institutions sign on as is, and now Woolworths Everyday Rewards has Apple Pay integration. I think the banks are running out of arguments. After all, the competition argument doesn't really hold water.